Tunisia brands as fake news discovery of Covid-19 vaccine

The Tunisian Defense ministry has brushed aside social media news that a medical military team has discovered a remedy or vaccine against Covid-19 pandemic, Business News reports.

The ministry in a statement issued Wednesday denied reports on social media that one of its teams has established a treatment or a vaccine for the pandemic.

The ministry, however, indicated that it is carrying out tests of a homemade treatment, in collaboration with the ministries of health and Scientific Research, Business News notes.

Tunisia is reeling with a spike in the contaminations. The health ministry reported Tuesday 9,823 new cases and 134 fatalities linked to the pandemic.

The new data bring the toll of infections to 464,914 and the deaths count to 15,735. The North African country, according to Prime Minister Hichem Mechi, has placed an order for 14 million doses of vaccine. He did not elaborate on the vaccine types.

Over 2 million Tunisians have been vaccinated so far since the beginning of the campaign on March 13. The number of those who received the second shot stands at 600,765.